Scene from a hotel room

While everyone else sleeps...
Toronto, ON
May 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: a 19th-floor hotel room overlooking the east side of Toronto's waterfront port lands. I've been working on my laptop most of the night, making sure the day's run-of-show is as perfect as can be. In a few short hours, I'll be standing on-stage in front of hundreds of people - colleagues, CIOs, other senior IT leaders, members/clients, etc. - and I don't want to let even one of them down.

The windows have been dark since my alarms went off 3 hours after I got back from the previous day's adventure. But suddenly, out of the very corner of my left eye, I notice a flicker of light that wasn't there previously. I stop what I'm doing and see a perfect sliver of salmon-orange color on the horizon that begs for a photo. Life is slowly returning to this massive city, and soon enough I'll have to head downstairs and make good stuff happen.

I can almost hear the clock ticking, and I don't have the time for spontaneous photography. But the calendar says it's May 8th - my birthday - and if ever I should remember the moment in a photo, now's the time. The windows are filthy, but I find a clean enough stretch way above my head, press my phone against the glass, compose the shot, and shoot.

All it takes is one frame, and I quickly return to the keyboard. Thankfully, the day plays out as it should, and while it's a little odd to be so far from home on this day, I'm surrounded by an amazing team, and they make the day a special one. I'll celebrate with the fam jam when I get home the next day.

The lesson? Life doesn't follow a set schedule. Do what you need to do to support your family. Take the time to celebrate, even if it seems like a weird time or circumstance. And never miss an opportunity to look out the window and wonder, because the universe is always standing by to remind you why you matter as much as you do.

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